


Rock and a Hard Place

by angeleledhwen (kallistei), eledhwen (kallistei)



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2003-09-26
Updated: 2003-09-26
Packaged: 2018-02-04 04:50:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,040
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1766098
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kallistei/pseuds/angeleledhwen, https://archiveofourown.org/users/kallistei/pseuds/eledhwen
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Blaise is stuck.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Rock and a Hard Place

**Author's Note:**

> Another ficlet written before Blaise's gender was canonically established.

Blaise muttered to herself as she executed the curious manoeuvre of flinging a door open and then sidling cautiously through it. She just about managed it, though there was a shaky moment when the door almost hit her as it rebounded off the wall, and she had to dodge quickly, almost colliding with the doorframe in the process. Her muttering, however, continued unabated.

God! That… that Draco! Her vocabulary held few words pungent enough to describe him – and those that were, she did not quite dare to use, even in her own mind. She was a well-brought up witch, and there were some things that were just not done. Things like swearing viciously when contemplating one of the most 'eligible' boys of her age. She wished, with a considerable amount of passion, that she had been born a year earlier, or later, so that even if she had to put up with being in his house, she would at least not have been in his year. She didn't quite wish that she had been sorted into another house – she knew Slytherin was the best place for her - but it was a close thing.

She sighed, and wished she could obliterate him from existence. Or, perhaps not could, but dared to. After all, she was a witch. It would make everything so much easier if she could. The thought of never having to put up with his clumsy attempts at 'wooing' her – 'Hey, Blaise, have a daisy, and an éclair I nicked from lunch. You know you're coming to the Three Broomsticks with me on Saturday, right?' – flooded her in a rush of relief. The thought of never having to come up with another feeble excuse, and having him act like it was no excuse at all was wonderful. For a moment she thought she might begin bubbling from the ears, spontaneously effervescing at the sheer glory of the thought, until she remembered that it had been merely a fantasy.

She sighed, and looked around. She'd seen him coming down the corridor towards her, and had known he'd try to corner her again. She'd managed to avoid giving an answer to his last 'invitation', and a number of people had stopped her today to tell her that he was looking for her. So when she'd seen him approaching she'd ducked into this door, spotting the 'Girls' Toilets' sign, and hoping he wouldn't dare to follow her in. Although, knowing Draco, she wouldn't put anything past him. The boy didn't know the meaning of 'No'. It probably wasn't a word he'd ever heard while he was growing up. He didn't seem to get it much now, either. She couldn’t for the life of her understand why Pansy kept giving her jealous, irritated looks every time Draco tried something new in his attempts to win Blaise over, and all she could think was that if Pansy wanted Draco, she was more than welcome to him.

Oh no, she thought as she took in her surroundings. She knew this place. This wasn't any toilet, this was Moaning Myrtle's toilet. She allowed herself to think a few of those pungent words, realising she was stuck between the proverbial rock and a hard place. She'd wandered in here one time in her first year, and been cornered by Myrtle for almost forty minutes. She had to get out of here, as quickly as she possibly could. But Draco was probably just passing the door now, or even hovering outside, if he'd seen her duck in. She weighed the two evils in her mind, and decided anything was preferable to Draco. Considering the last few conversations they'd had, the next step in his plan would probably be to 'confide' that he was falling in love with her. Blaise snorted quietly at the thought. Draco was, she was convinced, incapable of loving anyone except his own reflection. She'd take Myrtle.

She almost changed her mind a moment later, when an "Oooh," drifted towards her, followed by Myrtle herself. "I haven't had a visitor in ages," said Myrtle in an extremely pleased tone. She moved around in front of Blaise. "Hey, I know you! You came in years ago. You promised you'd come back!"

"Er," said Blaise, taken aback. Now that Myrtle mentioned it, she did remember saying something of the sort. But then, she also remembered that she had been desperate to get out by that time, and she'd been willing to say anything. "I'm back now, aren't I?" she tried, hoping that this would be acceptable.

"Took you long enough." Myrtle hovered next to Blaise. "You've quite hurt my feelings, making me wait this long."

"I'm... very sorry. It's been a really busy few years, though." She wondered if Myrtle would notice if she began to edge towards the door.

"Busy? You living people think you're busy?" That was, it seemed, enough to set her off. Myrtle began to detail her trials and tribulations, in excruciating detail. The speech went on and on, and on, since she didn't even have to pause for breath. Every time Blaise thought she might get a word in edgewise, Myrtle thought of something else that had depressed or irritated her. By the time Myrtle finally ran down, Blaise was almost ready to knock herself out against the corner of the sink in hope of respite.

She saw her chance, and seized it. "My goodness, look at the time!" she exclaimed, looking at her watch. "I'm going to be late for Transfiguration! I've got to go!"

Myrtle muttered under her breath. "All right, but you have to come back, understand? I deserve someone to talk to too. And it's been so long, we have a lot to catch up on."

"I promise," said Blaise, and hurried out before Myrtle figured out that it was evening, and classes were long over for the day. A faint 'Hey!' came from behind Blaise as the door swung shut, and she grinned to herself.

Draco straightened up from where he'd been slouched against the wall opposite the door. He grinned back at her. "I've been waiting for you for hours! What on earth were you doing in there?"

Blaise tried very, very hard not to scream.


End file.
